Vampire Reality, Second Draft
by GeekGothHybrid
Summary: I am Johnathan Hawke. Everyone who knows me just calls me Hawke. I met Sabrina, truly met her, beneath the mask she wears to the world. In December before Christmas Break. I should've died that day, it went against almost every instinct she had to do what she did do, almost. She might look human... Or almost human but she is not. She changed our destinies that day.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The Classroom Incident

Hawke's Point of View

My name is Johnathan Hawke, everyone who knows me just calls me Hawke though. The Classroom Incident, what I would learn was called a Veil Breach. The number one rule of Sabrina's Night Society was: You maintain the Veil, above all else, maintain the Veil. Well... I would be a walking, talking, breathing Veil Breach. Their was only one thing she should've done given the situation, but she couldn' that moment, intentional or not, she changed my destiny and her own as well.

I walked down a beige colored hallway of Emerald City High, there was a gray overcast in the sky today that bled through the windows that gave the hallway a colorless look to it. There was also no one I saw in the halls, it made sense, class was in session and it was the second of six periods, anyone who was going to skip would have been gone by now, I wasn't skipping though, I just getting to school that day, had a note from the doctor's and everything.

I got to the door leading to the classroom. Strange, there was no sound from the other side of the door. No gruff voice of Mr. Kogan or the murmur of his students, I shrugged to myself and opened the door and took a step in, automatically turning my back to the class and closing the door softly before turning to the room. Expecting everyone to be looking at me, nothing could've been further from the truth.

My eyes opened wide as I took the scene in. Blood, it was everywhere, splashed across the walls and the floor was covered in it. The bodies of his classmates slumped back in their seats, dead, or crumpled on the floor, none of them had gotten close to the door. Mr. Kagon was sitting at his desk, his throat slashed open. Most of the other students had similar injuries.

It took a moment for me to realize but there was someone standing towards the middle of the room. Someone I recognized. It was Sabrina, she was a couple inches shorter than me, making her between 5'6 and 5'8, she was pale on the best of days but right now it looked closer to corpse-white, she had straight black hair, a stark contrast to her skin, that ran past her shoulders. She was wearing a blank black T-shirt and blue skinny jeans today but that was what I had normally seen her in.

Her clothes were stained darker now though, covered in her classmate's blood and she was still, completely still, no movement, no body language to read, nothing. Her arms were covered in blood and bits of gore from the elbow down. My heart was hammering in my chest so hard I was surprised it didn't break a rib trying to escape. 'What the fuck... Did Sabrina do this? And why? It seemed a stupid question to ask if she had done this, the blood all over her seemed to suggest the answer, 'How was she able to do this?' she had no apparent weapons and she wasn't breathing heavy... That's why my senses caught up with my brain. She wasn't breathing with no signs of exertion that I would've expected her to show from slaughtering a class of 20 something students.

I could barely trace Sabrina's movements, let alone react to them. One second she was standing motionless in the middle of the room and in the span of a second she had crossed the 4 to 6 yard gap between us and held me in the air with one hand by the throat, crushing my windpipe. My hands went to her's automatically but I could not force her hands away. She was stronger than me, by quite a bit. Time seemed to slow as I appraised her, closer now and face to face.

It wasn't the first time I had met Sabrina but it almost felt like she was a completely different person. She looked the same, mostly, superficially. Her hair was unchanged. Her skin was paler than what I had come to accept as normal for her by at least a couple shades. Her eyes had always been striking, a pretty ice blue gave way to a just as striking but also terrifying crimson colored dominated iris of her eyes. Her face was unchanged but it lacked... something I couldn't place... Emotion? No anger, sadness or joy, her face was like a porcine mask. Her face's physical properties were the same, small mouth, small nose. She had what some might call 'resting bitch face' but I knew better, that wasn't what lied beneath. At least that's what I had thought. Now she had me by the throat, and I was questioning everything I thought I knew about her.

Time seemed to quicken again and a very small smile played across her lips that didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes, they were intense, focused, more than I had seen in her ever before. She leaned in close to me and on reflex I tried to shrink back but it was useless, half suffocated as I was and pined against the wall. I felt my blood run cold and fear give my limbs some strength. I saw she had a pair of smallish fangs in her mouth and I could guess why she was leaning in. I lifted up my knees to my chest, letting her hold my up by my neck. I kicked out pushing both of my feet against her chest and the force knocked her back a couple steps, but she didn't show the pain I had been expecting.

A ragged gasp escaped my mouth as I struggled to breath but much of that new breath was knocked out of me when my ass landed on the floor. In less than a second she was back to me. This time she was sitting on my lap, her legs straddling me, both hands holding my wrists against the wall at my back.  
"Do not resist, make no sound," She said and I didn't just hear her say it with my ears, I heard her say it in my mind, felt the words bounce in my skull, until all I could think or do was what she had told me. I felt her words infuse my muscles and relax against my will. I didn't feel it when my arms slackened and they lowered to the sides of her legs, resting on the floor. I couldn't do anything when she leaned closer.

I gasped when I felt her fangs pierce my neck, euphoria, pure pleasure flooded my body. pleasure akin to the first time I had made love and finished... The first time I tasted the most tender stake I've ever had. The first time I got high... All at the same time, the pleasure overrode any other feeling I might have been experiencing. If it weren't for Sabrina's command I was sure I would've cried out in pleasure. I could feel her drinking my blood but didn't care... It felt good, so good... Addicting even.

I didn't know how much time passed between when she started drinking and when she finally stopped. Seconds? Minutes? I saw her get up off me after she gave my neck a lick and she used the collar of my shirt to wipe the blood off my neck. She stood up and leaned down to me. What was she thinking I wondered to myself and felt I could form independent thought again but her command still held my limbs and voice tight. She knelt down to my level, sitting on the heels of her feet.  
"I will not hurt you further, sleep now, you are weak and need rest Hawke," She said, she had just been talking but her command, 'sleep now' dominated my mind and mesmerized my body and I felt myself slip into unconsciousness.

I woke up slowly, groggily, which was surprising now that I thought about it. Why did she not kill me? I started to stir but stopped when I thought it might have been better to feign unconscious.  
"I saw you Hawke,' I heard Sabrina's voice say. She had a pleasant voice to hear, a singer's voice if ever I had heard one, but her voice was one thing that hadn't changed from when we had previously talked and when she had commanded me. I sighed and opened my eyes slowly but it was dim in the room, the only light was a full moon coming in from the window. I must have been out for awhile since it was night now and it had been around 10:30am when I had came to school.

I looked around the room and it was bare aside from the couch I had been lying on, a large chair/loveseat, the window and a metal door. The walls were colored some kind of off white and the floor was hardwood with hardly any scuffs or mars in the wood. Sabrina was standing to my right, near the window. On my left was the metal door. My mind was already thinking about trying to escape but I shut down that idea. For one, if she wanted me dead, I would be. Secondly, she was faster, stronger and tougher than him by a long shot so I tried to make myself comfortable on the couch and sat up.  
"You are smart Hawke. You knew you couldn't escape and I bet your pretty curious about why your still alive right?" She asked and turned from the window and walked over to him but stayed a comfortable distance away.'  
"Yes," I said simply looking up at her. The moonlight off her pale skin almost made her glow, haunting, even more stunning and beautiful than she was. Her manner of talking was back to 'normal' that I had expected. Her skin was similarly colored so her pale skin didn't look too out of place on the streets.

She was quiet for a time and she went over to the chair and sat down and laid back into it, sinking slightly and sighed.  
"That is a good question... One I've been asking myself for the last 12 hours or so... It would have been easier, simpler, sensible, to kill you but instead... I find myself... Caring, after a fashion, for you. If you were gone, I'd miss you, we don't even know each other that well and it's not that I lack for company but... I don't think I've ever met another who has made me feel like this for quite some time,' She said, fixing me with her gaze. Even her gaze was different, it was focused but not nearly as intense as it had been in the classroom,"  
"It's been 12 hours?" I asked surprised.  
"Yes.. And in those 12 hours I have been giving out major favors to some very powerful Damned like it's candy to cover my tracks and to insure a new story is told. One of a violent, disturbed teacher. Who in a psychotic break murdered his students and killed himself after he regained his faculties," She said and I held back laughter.  
"How the hell do you think that will all line up?" I ask incredulously.  
"Oh it will. I've made sure of it. This isn't the first Veil breach I've had to help cover up, just the first Veil breach that was my responsibility," She said and a look crossed her face, regret? Had she not meant to give out so much information?  
"Damned?" I asked.  
"Another word, more polite word, my fellows use to describe the bloodthirsty monsters we are," She answered.  
"Vampires? And are their more than just you?" I asked, my mind was abuzz with questions.  
"You are full of questions... Yes, vampires, that word... has been a bit too popular for us in recent years for us to use," She said.  
"Uh... ok... You still haven't answered why I'm still around and probably why your answering my questions," I said. She was right though, questions were filling my mind but I tried to get a hold of it. I doubted she was up for a game of 20 questions.

She was quiet for a full minute, I was about to repeat what I had said when she started talking.  
"This is not what was suppose to happen today... I didn't want any of this. I was just going to ask you out and..." I cut her off mid sentence.  
"You were going to ask me out?" I asked incredulously.  
"Why would you want that?" I asked.

She took a deep breath before continuing.  
"It is a long story with an explanation that I would not expect you to understand, and I'm already in deep shit for you knowing what you know," She said.  
"I will yell you that the short answer is I need something, real, genuine, something not connected to my world at all... or someone. I need a reminder of how a normal person acts, reacts. I need a reminder of how to be human," She explained. I wanted to ask why but I doubt she would've answered me so I just pressed on in the conversation.  
"You don't need a boyfriend to do that," I told her and she let out a small smile from the mask she had been wearing.  
"True but... I need a personal connection, you are right, I don't need a boyfriend, specifically. I do want to share a personal connection though and I want to share it with you. If you are willing?I would understand if you do not want or could not do that though. I'm not so far removed to not understand that every time you look at me you can only see the monster I was... am that murdered your classmates and used you for food," She finished, at some point she had moved to the edge of her seat but when she was done talking she leaned back into the chair.

"Why me? Out of everyone in this school, this city, why would you come and ask me?" I asked, this time it was my turn to be on the edge of my seat. She was quiet for a short time before answering.  
"I see a bit of myself in you, a bit of my old self and what I've become. You have lost people you loved, recently too, you've reacted in a similar manner as myself, but not just that," She sat on the edge of her chair again, her back slouched forward like me, her body closer to mine, we were both on the edges of our seats.  
"I've watched you, observed, I suppose you could say 'stalked' you for the last couple weeks. You are passionate about what you love, about what you work and try to excel at. I could ask anyone and they all would agree you know more about archery than anyone in the city I bet," She said. The flattery making me smile a little.  
"I'm a bit of the same way but with what I love," She said.  
"And what is that?" I asked, rather curious.  
"Believe it or not... I enjoy writing stories," She said softly, like she was embarrassed or shy about it. It made her... sympathetic, relate able... Like she was not just the monster I had witnessed in the classroom.

"Do you have any other hobbies or interests?" I asked and we continued like that for what seemed like hours, just talking, like regular people trying to get to know each other. It was surprising, how it was just to be... To be myself around her. I enjoyed her laugh and found myself smiling when I heard it.

At some point she had asked if she could sit next to me on the couch and I had agreed. We had a couple common interests, music was one, video games was another but we also had differing interests and personalities, their were similarities but differences too. I for example enjoyed staying in, was more focused inward, an introvert. Her on the other hand... She loved going out, partying. She had connections and not just in shy girl from second period turned out to be one of the popular kids. An extrovert to be sure. It didn't occur to me that she might have been shy because of me until that point.  
"You seem like regular party goer, real outgoing but you seemed so shy in second period, why?" I asked, the smile on her face that had been there since we had started talking faltered for a moment but returned like it never left.  
"I was shy around you. I didn't know how you would react to me, when I asked you out. When I told you I had been watching you... I had never intended to tell you about... The... 'weird' stuff. I didn't want you to learn about that side of me or become connect to it at all. That was the whole point," She said. I was quiet for a little time, thinking.  
'If you hid that much of you... The real you and just showed me the mask you put on... Would it be real? Genuine like you wanted it?" I asked tentatively, not sure how she would react to me disagreeing with her. It didn't seem like she reacted at all to it.  
"Maybe... But it would be for your protection. And my own," She said answering me with her own counter argument.  
"I can understand that. Especially after what I've seen. But it wasn't a question between us. It was a question to you, for you. I see why you would want to keep your secret, and why you would not. She nodded.

"What is your last name by the way?" I ask with a little embarrassed smile. She smiled back, warmly actually.  
"Rose. Sabrina Rose," She said.  
"And you... are Johnithan "Hawkeye" Hawke," She said smiling.  
You are correct. My teamates gave me that moniker. I am team captain of the archery team after all," I said with a smile and a bit of pride. I was proud of what I was good at, it seemed to be expected for me.  
"You've got an accent don't you? I can't tell what but.. Do you mind sharing?" I asked. It was hard to notice, her pronunciation was perfect for the west side of the United States but it was in the way of how she wanted to say certain things that I noticed.  
"You really are sharp... It's a British accent," She explained.  
"Ah... Spend some time in the Old World?" I asked, wondering if she would understand the way I had said it.  
"Yes. I was born in London actually," She said with a smile.  
"I have moved around quite a bit though," She said. She got the start of a thousand yard stare but shook herself out of it before it really began. I was about to say something when I heard my stomach growl.  
"Uh.. Any chance I could get something to eat?" I asked. Suddenly very aware of my unknown status. Was I a prisoner? The room we were in seemed to suggest as much but the way she interacted with me said otherwise.  
"Of course," She said, getting up off the couch next to me.  
"Come and follow me. You are not a prisoner here Hawke. I know you haven't really given me an answer to my question but... I don't think you will tell my secret. I could be dishonest if I didn't tell you that my willingness to let you wander and leave, if you wanted, was because your smart. Would anyone believe you if you told them what you knew? What might I do if you did tell anyone and what would I do to the person you told? I know that those questions had to have came to your mind and i;m sure you know the answers too," She said as she led me though the large house. We had been in a basement of some sort but were now in a spacious kitchen with an adjoining dinning room and you could see a living room on the first floor from the kitchen. The rest of the house I had seen was fairly well lit.  
"Is this your place?" I asked my mouth open.

It was at least 4 times bigger than where I was currently living. Couch crashing at my best friend Jack's house. Officially I was between foster homes at the moment but I had been for he last month. I know my Social Service Officer cared, truly did but she had 20 other kids to look after also, besides, Jack's parents treated me better than most of the foster homes I had been in. I was almost 17, just a year and a couple months of being in the system... Then... I had no idea.

"No. An acquaintance is letting me stay in exchange for house sitting," Sabrina said, taking me out of my thoughts. She was gathering a bunch of ingredients that included chicken and thin oriental style noodles.  
"You can cook?" I asked.  
"Yeah, used to being on my own,"She said in explanation.  
"You?" She asked looking at me while she started to chop vegetables up.  
"Uh... Kinda... nothing too fancy. I know how to follow directions well enough at least" I said with a shrug.  
"Good, can you boil these noddles for me?" She asked, sliding the package over to me.  
"Sure," I said and grabbed a decent sized pot.

It didn't take too long for me to figure out she was making some stir fry and after an hour of preparation and cooking the food made my stomach grumble louder.  
"You learn to cook on your own?" I asked after the plates were dished up and Sabrina nodded over to the dining room table.  
"Pick a spot, and yes, mostly anyways," She said and I sat down at the right side of the 'head' of the table and she sat down next to me, not at the head of the table though. I paused for a moment and she smiled.  
"Grace?" She asked with a chuckle. I nodded. She shook her head still smiling.  
"Can you spell irony?" She said under her breath before saying grace, it was short and sweet but I didn't car as I dug in. Then something occurred to me.  
"Sabrina? Can you and yours even eat normal food?" I ask. She smiles tentatively.  
"Yes... but it gives us no sustenance and I've heard older Damned taste nothing but ash from anything but Blood," She said as she ate slow savoring it, I guessed it was because eventually it wouldn't taste like anything eventually. Unlike myself, piggish heathen I was.  
"I'm sorry," I apologized when she gave me a look.  
"It's ok Hawke. I know your hungry and I know a thing or two about hunger..." She trailed but dismissed her own comment with a shake of her head. I heard my phone's ringtone go off somewhere in the house.  
"I'll get it for you Hawke," She said before I could say anything and 3 seconds after she had nearly disappeared, she had returned with my phone held out to me, the ringtone still going off. I accepted it as I blinked.  
"Damn that was quick," She shrugged and say back down and I answered the various messages that had been sent to me. At least one message from each of my teamates and Jack had messaged me three times. I replied to all of them with a group message saying that I was fine and that I would see them in school the next day. I looked up to Sabrina as something struck my mind.  
"Hey Sabrina... Are we still in the city?" I asked tentatively, unsure if she would tell me.  
"We are about a 10 minute drive from school," She told me and I nodded.  
"Would you like to spend the night?" She asked.  
"If you'll let me," I said. Surprised at myself. I was surprised that I felt like I could sleep in the same house as Sabrina. She gave me a big smiled.  
"Of course," She answered and I texted Jack that I wouldn't be home for the night but that I would see him at school tomorrow.  
"You could have a room if you want? There are a couple guest rooms aside from the one Im staying in," She offered but I shook my head.  
"If it's ok with you I'll take the couch, it's what I'm used to," I told her.  
"If that is what you prefer ok," She said.

We both got up after we were done with our food and set about cleaning the dishes. We did it together and it took no time at all.  
"I'm going to get some pillows and blankets," She said and I nodded. She left the room with one last look at me. I say down on the couch in the living room that was open to the dinning room and kitchen we were just in and started processing everything that had happened. There wasn't a whole lot to process as I had been unconscious for most of the day. It was surprising then that I was feeling tired. I looked around and saw a clock on the wall, it was nearly midnight. I comtemplated my answer to Sabrina's question. 'Would I go out with her?'. Surprisingly, he wasn't scared to tell her no. Because while if she was feeling spurned I was sure she could do terrible things to me if she wanted. If he had said yes he had a feeling the more he knew the more at risk he was or was he as deep as he could be already? Like the difference between falling 1,000 feet and 5,000 feet. Both resulted in the same way for the falling man right?

"Hawke?" I heard Sabrina say. I got up off the couch and took the blankets and a couple pillows from her.  
"Thank you, for the dinner, letting me stay and the bedding," I said, giving her a smile.  
"I gave your question some thought," I told her, breaking the couple second silence between us.  
'Yeah?" She asked, her eyes lit up with hope for a moment before she donned her mask again. She was trying to protect herself from my answer if I said 'no'.  
"And?" She asked in a less excited tone. I took a deep breath before saying.  
"Yes. I will go out with you," I told her with a smile and the biggest, most real smile I had ever seen her give came from her lips and she hugged me, a huge hug, stronger than her appearance would suggest. She was pretty and she looked in shape but not particularly strong. But the hug wasn't enough to hurt. I felt her skin on mine and it as slightly cool to the touch and I hugged her back.  
"Thank you. Thank you so much Hawke," She said, releasing me from the hug.  
"I hope you understand though... I might not be able to answer some questions ok? I might not know or... You might just have to take my word that you shouldn't know something. I'll do my best to be honest, to tell you the truth when I can, to be worthy of the trust I am asking of you now," She said with a sigh.  
"That's ok. I probably won't ask about that stuff unless it's relevant. I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate a game of 20 questions," I said, understanding what she way saying.  
'Thank you for your understanding, also, if i'm... serious.. like dead serious. I need to you just do what I tell you, no questions at the time. I'll try to explain at a later time. I know this is a lot to ask but I don't want you hurt or not to expect something," She told me and I nodded.  
"I can understand that as well and I promise I'll do what you say in a serious situation," I promised.  
"Thank you... I really appreciate you giving me this chance," She said bowing slightly to me.  
'Your welcome Sabrina," I say with a smile and she gives me back a small smile.

"I am kind of tired though. So would you mind if I slept?" I ask, indicating to the couch.  
"Oh! Of course not... I should go to bed too..." She trailed.  
"Do you sleep," I asked with a slight tilt of the head.  
"Yeah... Well... Younger ones can, it's not a requirement though our bodies are technically dead, but sleep is a habit of the mind as well as of he body. Eventually I won't be able to sleep but for now. I can,' She explains and I nod before getting set up on the couch. She watches me as I wrap a beige blanket around me and puts a hand on my shoulder and she looks down at me strangely before she just say.  
"Goodnight Hawke," Before she leaves and heads upstairs, presumably to her own bedroom.  
"Good night Sabrina," I say as she walks up the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Predatory Instincts.

Sabrina's Point of View:

My name is Sabrina Rose, and I am dead, but not... It's all rather complicated. The short version though is that I'm a bloodthirsty monster, at least, some of the time. I'm not the only one of my kind and we have formed a... Well, we call it the Night Society. Over the course of history it has been destroyed and resurrected countless times. Currently it is running strong in Emerald City and has been for centuries.

The Night Society has rules, codes, but none are more important than this, even newly created Damned know it, like it's in our blood: Don't let the sheep know the wolf is there... What they don't tell you is because even a wolf can be trampled to death by a hundred sheep. We call this barrier we erect to ensure humans don't find out about us, The Veil. Rule One: Maintain The Veil. I've gone against every instinct by letting Hawke live and telling him what I have. In for a penny, in for a pound right? Now... The Warden comes calling but I am ready. The board is set up, the pieces are in place, the newest chapter in the Game is about to unfold.

It never takes me long to get to sleep, the problem is staying asleep. If it's not the Hunger, it's the nightmares, if it's not the nightmares its my mind realizing the body no longer needs to rest. Tonight, my hunger was dulled to a constant ache I could almost ignore, and the nightmares had given me a reprieve so far, no, this time it was my mind waking from a rest it did not really need.

I stared at the ceiling for a minute before getting up to check on my house guest. Anders had told me to make myself at home and that he would be gone for at least 6 months, that was a month ago. I pulled out one of my two steamer trunks from the closet and knelt down as I opened it and retrieved some new clothes. It might have been a habit but I never felt comfortable settling down and setting roots. In fact... I had been in this city for a little over a year and this was the longest time I had spent in one city.

Cities... They were like gilded cages really. They had everything a Damned could want... Food, Shelter, Entertainment and most importantly... Humans who could be manipulated in the Great Game we Damned played together and against each other. On the other hand, outside cities were the badlands, the wild frontier for all we were concerned. Food, shelter, entertainment and cannon fodder, all harder to come by, and being outside the city comes with risk. Risk of weirder, more feral, 'things' that prefer to be left alone but wouldn't think twice about hunting down anything else in their Territory. So we Damned stick to cities when we can, besides, why not?

After I picked out my outfit I took it to the adjoining bathroom with me. I showered quickly and stepped out and caught my reflection in the steamed up mirror. I was rather petite with only slight curve to my hips, chest and bottom. My skin was pale white that could only be contributed to a corpse. My raven black hair was stuck to my head, still a bit wet, my hair was exactly as it had been when I died. A damned's physical body does not change day to day, and should you wish to change it, say... cut your hair? You could do it every day as the hair will inexplicably grow back at some point in the day. For Sabrina it was midnight but she knew it was different for different damned. Or... you could force your body to change but the Curse demands a price, a price in blood, for something trival, not much, but it always demands payment and even a little blood makes the Hunger, just a little less bearable.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and got dressed. Black slacks, black tanktop and shirt and I wore my combat boots. It was an unusual look for me a little but I knew I would be summoned tonight about this morning's Breach. The question of why almost never seemed to matter or come up, only how did you cover your tracks. And I had done as well as I could. I owed major favors to four of the six elders of the city.

I was surprised to have been given so much credit but I was a 'respected member of society'. The thought made me want to laugh. I kept my head down, didn't piss too powerful of Damned off and helped when asked. My particular talents... were not in solving puzzles or knowing esoteric knowledge but I was pretty good with people... and I could fight, I was good too. They called me Sabrina 'The Thorned' Rose, a little moniker I never claimed but one that was bestowed upon me unofficially by the Damned of Emerald City.

After I was fully dressed I took a breath and pulled the second steamer trunk from the closet and I laid it down on the bed. It was heavy, heavier than the first but I didn't feel it. I was stronger than I looked. I trained, hard over the last 5 years since my 'Rebirth' like physical changes, like haircuts or tattoos, you can train like a normal human too. Get faster, stronger but it takes more time and significantly more blood than a haircut. I could also infuse my body with Blood to give my a physical boost, near super human levels of strength, speed or toughness but it was temporary and the longer you use it, the hungrier you get.

I opened the steamer trunk. Right on top and covering the rest of the trunk's contents was her custom leather trenchcoat. It had several thin layers of kevlar weaved on the inside, less layers around the joints and typical bends in the fabric, and more everywhere else. I had commissioned this trenchcoat of the very few Damned she would call a friend. It was black with a silver colored embroidery of a Rose on the left shoulder.

I had not opened this trunk since moving to Emerald City. I took a breath, a habit, since technically I didn't need to breath but it was good for keeping up appearances, and closed the trunk before locking it back up. I was going to 'prepare' for my time at the Warden's Court but instead I silently left my room, descended the stairs and walked into the living room and saw Hawke laying on the couch, his breathing rythmatic and steady, sleeping. My house guest was safe and sound. I should have went back upstairs and 'suit up' for the big night...

Hawke seemed to bring that out of me... Not doing what I should have done, or should be doing because I just stood there and watched him sleep. I felt... strange. I wanted to talk to him again, to hear his voice, it wasn't particularly impressive, deep but not really deep, and he was soft spoken, if my senses weren't enhanced I might have had a hard time hearing him sometimes. He was cute but not particularly handsome and he was fit but not exactly athletic. In truth, he wouldn't stand out in the crowd of humanity but what drew me to him was a moment in time. One day she was watching him at a practice with his team. They really were 'his' team, he was a great leader, liked helping and seeing his people succeed but Hawke was making a long ranged shot... His teammates were being distractions, yelling, crying, anything but touching or being in direct line of his target. Hawke drew back the arrow and it as in that moment. I knew I wanted him. The moment after drawing but before release, the slow exhale... The look in his eyes, the utter focus, the memory alone could make me smolder... But the look in his eyes... I had seen it before, a hundred times, a look I myself knew I had. The look was of a Damned on the Hunt. It wasn't quite the same I know but I never saw anyone but another Damned look like that, and that intrigued the hell out of me.

I pulled myself out of the memory to focus on the present and found that I was sitting on a reclining chair next to the couch Hawke was sleeping on. I didn't remember moving or sitting down. I watched Hawke and my control faltered for a moment. The ache in my stomach grew more forceful and I felt my fangs extend, aching with need. The memory of feeding from Hawke coming unbidden to my mind... The hot blood flowing down my throat... The pleasure... I saw red at the edges of my vision and knew my eyes were a bright crimson color. I reached out an arm to Hawke. I wanted him...

It felt like my heart was hammering in my chest, I knew that was impossible but the memory of it was so strong it almost felt real. The imagery of Hawke and I... Together... Came to my mind, the look he had from my memories of when he was shooting on his face working me up. I knew if I didn't stop I might hurt Hawke and it was difficult but I calmed myself down. Gritting my teeth and making the thoughts and memories abandon me and I closed my eyes as I exerted my control once again.

Slowly the hammering in my chest slows and finally still and I take a deep breath blinking slow and the red was gone from the edges of my perspective and I let my arm drop slowly back to my side. I was surprised at myself, no one I had met before made my control falter, at least, not their mere presence. Hawke wasn't even conscious, perhaps if he was my control wouldn't have faltered, maybe if he wasn't so vulnerable and in my own lair... I shook my head. I was going to have to get used to him being vulnerable around me. That was part of bring in a relationship, eventually away and I contemplated that. Could I make myself vulnerable to Hawke? How was that possible?

I was thinking about these things when I sensed the presence of another Damned or I sensed their Shadow... It was a nicer, more comprehensive name for our cold, bloodthirsty side. Hawke had seen it in the classroom, my Shadow. As far as I knew my Shadow was our Curse made manifest in our minds and souls or maybe it was the other soul occupying one body? It depends on what you believe. I didn't particularly care but I did know Damned can identify another of their kind by the presence of their Shadow. Some Damned can mask the presence of their Shadow but never for long and it takes a lot of blood and not everyone can do it. Though most who can do not since the Hunger afterwards usually isn't worth it.

My head snapped up towards the window to my left and I saw a single man, tall, Caucasian, mixed latino decent? In a suit. In the span of a few seconds, I had gotten up, crossed to the door, opened and closed it silently and was on the opposite side of the street the man was standing. He was leaning against his new white car.  
"Good evening Ms. Rose," He says nodding his head to me.  
"I apologize for not calling ahead but..." He trails and tilts his head to one side and narrows his eyes at me. Shadows do not just sense each other's presences, they can gage who is older, and by extension who is stronger, which typically is the elder of the two meeting. I could feel his Shadow sizing up my own. His was older, and smile broke over his face that didn't reach his eyes.  
"Are you the infamous Sabrina 'The Thorned' Rose? That can't be possible. Your nothing but a youngling! Maybe it's your making I should be speaking to?" He asked laughing. Anger starts to well up in me. I had been through too much and had a reputation to protect that would not allow this slight to go unpunished. I could be gracious about it though.  
"Your going to regret treating me with such disrespect. I am Sabrina Rose, give me your message, as you are obviously an errand boy, and leave in one piece and consider it a mercy," I said quietly and looked him straight in the eye. He was about to spit out a retort but his voice caught in his throat when he met my gaze. He was older, should have been stronger but his Shadow recognized the determination born of confidence in mine and it made him reexamine his position. He scoffed before speaking again.  
"The Warden summons you to Court to answer for yesterday's Veil Breach," He declared.  
"Very well, your message has been received. You can leave now," I say right after he was done talking, knowing why he was here right after I sensed his presence.  
"Awww... I'm mighty thirsty... How about a drink from the Lick in your house?" He asked. A 'Lick' was a derogatory term for a human whom a Damned fed on... My anger, that had been roused from his disrespect, exploded at his comment of Hawke, that he would even ask. It is what he wanted of course, a reason for this encounter to turn violent. I tried to get a handle on my anger but it only burned brighter. How dare he ask for a drink from Hawke. He was MINE, mine and mine alone. Ours is a rather territorial people, as befitting our predatory natures. Hawke may not have agreed but that hardly mattered. I had decided, in that moment, that Hawke was mine and I would kill to protect what was mine.

In the blink of an eye I had crossed the gap between us and with both fists, slammed into his chest with all my strength, it sent the man flying against his car, a loud metallic thud ringing aloud through out the neighborhood. He recovered, slowly getting up. A normal human would've been dead before hitting the car. He coughed as he stood.  
"You little Bitch!" He swore.  
"You leave now or I'll leave you something a little more permanent to remember me by. Don't ever threaten me or mine again or it will be the last thing you do," I tell him. My rage fueling my words, red at the edge of my vision and my fangs lengthened at the thought of bloodshed. His eyes flashed red but he got into the car, just as he started to drive away though I heart the 'pop' of a silenced pistol and the car screeched away. I had never been shot before my change so the pain I experienced was not the pain from getting shot but it was immense in any case and it took all my will not to cry out as I looked down. He had hit me a total of 3 times. The holes in my body did not bleed though as I technically was dead with only coagulated blood to shed which also meant no vital organs to worry about. Getting shot was about as bad as what I did to him, or getting hit with a club or piece of pipe.

I growled as I made my way back to my house. I did my best to be quiet and I was at least successful in not waking Hawke. I made my way upstairs and took my shirt off and checked for exit wounds, their were, all three, lucky for me. I sat down in a chair in my room slowly and gritted my teeth. Already my body was healing the damage to me, but it was making me hungry. The altercation with the messenger was stupid and I shouldn't have been provoked into such a violent response. I needed to be more careful. The last thing I needed was this Damned to hold a grudge and go after Hawke. Because that's what I would do if I was feeling particularly vengeful.

Again, Hawke making me do things I shouldn't... I took a deep breath and just calmed myself before I did something I regretted. After about half an hour my wounds were healed and I could move with no pain. I got up out of the chair and put on a new shirt before heading back downstairs. Silent as could be. I left the house and with my superior senses I was about to find the slugs and dispose of them, they were far away from any house and the damage to the objects on impact, trees mostly, wouldn't be noted. I growled in frustration and went back inside and back to my room. I got 'suited up' getting ready for my encounter with the Warden and I wrote Hawke and leaving him the keys to the rental in the driveway. I knew he had a routine in the morning and wanted him to do what he normally does. The note included directions to school and hopefully he could find his way to his friend's house from there to get his gear. I was planning on taking my motorcycle into town.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Day in Court

I brought my bike to a stop on the bottom floor of the parking garage, this level of the parking garage was nearly vacant, the entire 10 level building might have had a couple dozen vehicles. I turned my motorcycle off, it was built for speed and little else but it did have a couple leather bags fixed to the sides near the rear wheel. I pulled out my wheel lock and locked the wheels.

I walked towards the elevator, a dirty, small rather rickety looking thing but I knew better. It's appearance was in support of the Veil, so was the large bald bruiser sitting next to the elevator, legs kicked up, feet resting on another chair, reading a comic, 'Vampirella' and I had an nearly overwhelming urge to roll my eyes, then remembered what was in my coat.  
"Tony," I said in greeting. He stood up as I approached.  
"Sabrina," He said back, his voice was really deep, he was wearing a dark hoody and heavy denim blue jeans.  
"You know how they feel about heavily armed Blood," Tony said with a sigh and he stood up, he had dark hair, dark eyes and dark skin. He was also at least 6 foot 6 inches and 250 lbs. A small laugh came from Tony when he saw my surprised expression.  
"Come on Sabrina, I wouldn't be a very good Doorman if I couldn't spot shoddy glyph work like that," He said, pointing to the machete on my back that he shouldn't have been able to see. I frowned and narrowed my eyes at his criticism.  
"Maybe I had a shoddy teacher..." I trailed quietly but Tony just laughed more.  
"I just showed you how to do it. You only get better if you practice. When is the last time you performed that concealing ritual?" He asked and I sighed.  
"A month ago," I responded and Tony exploded with a lecture about not only my glyph work but my expectations of my own abilities and my work ethic. I tuned him out abit.

He was right of course. You only get better at something through practice and I only practiced enough so I wouldn't forget the glyph I needed to draw in my blood in order to conceal my weapons from sight. It wasn't invisibility as Tony had explained, it was more... Not drawing attention to the item in question. Any normal human would have seen the sword on my back, pistols on my hips, but in their minds it wouldn't register as important.

We have had this conversation before. Going to Court so heavily armed and armored was definitely not vogue and just asking for trouble, it makes other Damned nervous. And nervous, territorial, bloodthirsty predators was counter to the point of a non-violent, neutral meeting ground enforced by the Warden and his Court, like the Catacombs was.

"You know why I'm here today Tony," I said, my voice blunt, his silent nod giving his answer to my non-question.  
"You can't tell me that you wouldn't show up strapped. Besides, I heard we have a new warden, and this one crossed off our previous Warden and I know Vladimir wasn't just a political flop," I told Tony and he seemed surprised.  
"You haven't been to Court in two months," He said. I rolled my eyes.  
"You do know who I am right? I would not have lasted as long as I have if I didn't know we had a new Warden without going to Court. It's kind of a big deal," I said. That was one of the biggest understatements I could have made. Wardens, they are the top dogs, the leaders and enforcers of the Night Society's laws and guides. They have total authority in their domain of a city, at least in theory. In practice they had as much authority as they could personally bring to bear, so common practice was to have a council to advise the Warden who would in turn grant his councilors land to rule in his stead. This would make the Council at least somewhat loyal to the Warden and if any problems turned up in another councilor's domain, the Warden would go to that Councilor with any grievances. It was a rather dated hierarchy, Feudal but it was a common form of governance in North America.

"That's an understatement..." He trailed shaking his head.  
"You don't like our new Warden?" I asked. Tony gave me a blank look.  
"You know better than to ask a question like that. I like our new Warden just fine. I don't like it's style though. We haven't even seen the person in question. Whoever it is works solely in proxies. Human Proxies only and I don't think they are being remotely controlled." Tony said shaking his head. One of my eyebrows raised at that.  
"You ever heard of anything like that before?" I asked Tony. He had been in Emerald City for at least 20 years, longer than myself at least.  
"Nah, I haven't but I'm not too big into those mind-fuck disciplines," Tony told me.

Disciplines were both formal and informal categorization of the various abilities our Curse gives us and what we learn on our own. Some disciplines come easier than others and everyone is different, some especially powerful Damned can even force their Curse to manifest in a specific way, creating unique discipline to themselves but that was exceptionally rare. Technically any Damned could learn any discipline, given a teacher and time. However it takes a long time to learn a new discipline compared to expanding your knowledge and understanding of a discipline you already know.

"All that aside..." Tony trailed and eyed my weapons.  
"Well... I'm not at Court often... And we do have a new Warden... It's not out of the realm of possibility that I don't really know the societal norms..." I trailed and slowly pulled out a couple issues of the 'Vampirella' comic, still in their clear plastic sleeves.

Tony chuckled a bit.  
"I suppose maybe..." He said accepting my bribe.  
"Just don't forget it Ms. Rose," He said, setting the comics on the chair he had been using as a foot rest before fishing a key from one of his hoody's pockets and he opened up the elevator doors while using the key and he stood aside, allowing me into the elevator.  
"Oh," He said before flicking a finger at me and I felt the concentration I had been maintaining on the concealment glyphs snap like a twig.  
"You know the rules. I'll let you in with them but the Warden would definitely have my head if I allowed you in with them concealed," Tony explained with a shrug but I nodded, understanding.

I walked into the rather normal looking elevator, but it was at least clean. The elevator panel went 1-10 and a 'B'. I held down the 'B' and pressed the number ten button. Both lighting up and the elevator door closed and started moving down. Normally, the 'B' by itself wouldn't even light up but the combination of 'B' and ten plus the key Tony used in the fairly bad neighborhood this Parking Garage was in had kept the 'Catacombs' Veil-safe for at least the last couple hundred years, probably more.

The 'Catacombs' was the nickname for this particular facility. I knew their were a few complexes in the city like this one. A place outside a Damnned's own lair where us bloodthirsty monsters could be what we are, within a societal reasoning, I did not like any of these Veil-safe areas. Nearly every time I came, something went wrong. Last time I made an enemy of a powerful Damned who still had a chip on his shoulder. All for a quiet comment about my distaste for his chosen prey. I wasn't picky about my food but even I wouldn't feed off a child unless I had no other choice. Lord Mont'el however... would feed almost exclusively on children. It made me sick and I had drawn Lord Mont'el's ire by stating my opinion of his feeding habits. I still was on guard in his territory. He had a reputation of using human gangs to do his dirty work.

I reached the floor Court was being held, on the tenth floor below the surface. The elevator doors opened into a smallish room. Bare of all features except for the large double doors that led to where court was being held. In between me and the doors was half a dozen Damned in suits holding sub-machine guns, they were pointed at me.

My mind raced for a moment, I was highly outnumbered and outguned and out aged, all of them were older than her. Normally though, their were two or three guards, something was up. I did the only thing that made sense and I held my hands out to my sides, palms facing the guards. One of the guards, a younger looking Damned put a finger to his hear as if listening to an earpiece.  
"Yes ma'am. She is armed," I heard him say softly. Unfortunately I could not hear the person he was talking to.  
"Are you sure?" He asked, and paused a moment.  
"Of course Ma'am," He finished.  
"Lower your weapons. Sabrina Rose is allowed though armed," He calls out and the rest of them lowered their guns. I walked forward past the guards. I took a breath before throwing the doors to Court open and walked in like I owned the place.

I must have to admit, I looked good.I wore my trench-coat over a black bullet-proof vest and black tanktop. A pair of pistols holstered at either hip, a Machete strapped across my back. I had black jeans and combat books on. It had been awhile since I had gone anywhere in my full kit like this and it felt, right, natural, I felt comfortable. My gaze swept side to side. I was in a giant hall, at least 200 yards long, about half that wide, their were numerous halls and rooms off this main chamber. The main feature of this 'room' was it was completely made of marble, the high ceilings, at least 100 feet fall and the roman-style looking marble pillars, they were spread out evenly. Roughly 30 yards apart length wise and about 25 yards from the long side on either side, leaving a 50 yard 'no-man' one between the pillars. I strode down that 'no-man' zone with confidence borne of ability.

The room wasn't particularly crowded, but there was a good number of Damned. Most of them had their eyes on me but I paid them no mind. I was fearless and I strode towards the end of the massive chamber where a number of Damned gathered in the center of the no-mans land. As I approached the gathering of people scattered like leaves on the wind, revealing a large wooden throne of excellent craftsmanship. And on that throne, was a woman... A human woman. I didn't feel a shadow in her and if I focused I could hear her heart beat. I looked around suspiciously but no one was near us now.

"Ah! Sabrina 'the Thorned' Rose. It is so good to meet you!" She said with a huge smile and she stood up off her throne and walked towards me, and opened her arms, like she was asking for a hug. I shook my head.  
"Don't take this personally but I don't let people touch me," I told her and the memory of hugging Hawke almost crossed my mind but I forced it away, no telling who might be looking. It wasn't a common power for sure, and it was nearly mastery-level ability to be able to read surface thoughts, especially on a Damned and especially without them knowing but Sabrina didn't know everyone here well enough to know they couldn't do it. So better safe than sorry.  
"I don't, a great deal of your associates are of the same mindset," She said, accepting my apology.  
"Uh..." I trailed unsure of what to say.  
"Your wondering where my master is? How he is controlling me? How does you know I am who I say I am? Is that about right?" She asked and I nodded. She was a tall woman, blonde hair, blue eyed, long hair pulled up into a ponytail. She was wearing a simple white dress. She had an infectious smile with nearly perfect teeth.  
"Yes..." I trailed, unsure of how to address her.  
"My name is Karen but if you prefer a title, you can call me The Proxy," She said, somewhat sad at offering that second bit. She didn't seem to be under direct control of whoever was her Master.

"Master is... 'Everywhere you aren't looking and nowhere you are,'" She said the quote in another voice, an imitation, not a literal other voice.  
"I'm sorry, Master loves to answer in riddles and vagueness," She apologized, bowing slightly. Her hands folded in front of her.  
"The simplest answer to the next question would be Master is not 'controlling' me per say..." She trailed with a look of deep thought.  
"Master can send me thoughts and images," Karen told me.  
"As far as how you know I am Master's Proxy.." She trailed and pulled down the collar of her dress slightly and I saw she had a stylized eye tattooed on her chest.  
"As for how you know if this tattoo is for the Warden... If anything happens to me, Master will kill you before the next night. Just ask anyone around what happened to the last 3 Proxies and what happened to the party responsible," Karen said with a slight hint of sadness.  
"I don't plan on doing anything to you. Did you know the other Proxies?" I asked, she seemed to react in a way suggesting she might have.  
"I'm sorry Sabrina. I can't answer that question," She responded.

After a few second pause I spoke up.  
"So introductions are made... I'm here for the summons delivered by that ass-hat in the silver volvo who slighted me after delivering his message," I told Karen and she smiled.  
"Of course. Master will deal with Christopher," She said and walked over to her throne and sat down in it.  
"I'm calling Court for Sabrina Rose's Veil Breach yesterday morning!" She yelled and her voice echoed across the chamber. Everyone went quiet and started gathering around. A double dozen Damned, and Karen.  
"Sabrina Rose..." Karen started, her voice carrying authority it had not when I spoke to Karen one on one.  
"You have been accused by this Court. I the Proxy Warden charge you with Breaching the Veil. On the fifth day, on the month of December in the year two-zero-one-five Anno Domini you Sabrina Rose stand accused of revealing your ties to the Blood before proceeding to murder any and all witnesses. How to you answer these charges?" Karen asked, a semi-circle had formed around her and Karen on her throne. I could feel the weight of hundreds of years worth of stares on me, thinking, calculating but I stood tall, can't let them see you sweat, vampires were like sharks if they smelled blood in the water, both literally and figuratively.

"I do not deny the charges. I will say however that all the necessary steps have been taken already to cover up this Breach. Either by myself or at my direction with the aid of others," I responded confidently, my voice easily echoing across the marble chamber.  
"Please explain to the Court how you and those operating under your direction have sufficiently covered your Veil Breach," Karen asked and I spent the better part of 2 hours summarizing what I had done and the favors I had asked for in the 12 hours or so after my Breach, making sure to leave out any mention of Hawke but otherwise giving a true recollection of events.

After it was all said and one as long as my breach wouldn't cause any grief then I was off the hook. I may not have liked the people I owed but I went to them because they knew their stuff so I was not worried about it.

I was in the parking garage, on the way back to my motorcycle to head home when I started feeling off. I stopped and looked around but I saw nothing, I clenched my teeth and took a breath and extended my senses, concentrating on them. It felt like my senses were water, washing over everything until I felt something different, as if... If my senses were hitting a colander, it was designed for water to pass though but I could still feel it. Someone was concealing themselves like I had concealed my weapons, though the ritual I used was like akin to learning to ride a tricycle compared to concealing yourself, which would be similar to learning to ride of motorcycle by comparison. I couldn't overcome their stealth but I knew they were around. I took a second to decide what to do and I forced myself to relax.  
"I know someone is there, come out and state your business with me," I said in a normal voice. I had parked on the far side of the bottom level of the parking garage in relation to the elevator, Tony would only hear something if fighting happened, or a gunshots.

It was rather jarring, one second I was alone in the parking garage, the next I was not alone, she just appeared out of thin air. I saw who it was and immediately drew my Desert Eagle and assumed a firing stance. I could shoot one handed accurately enough but their was only one and if I was going to shoot, it was going to have to be between those big brown eyes.

Jessie looked exactly the same since the last time I saw her three years ago, being nearly 6 feet tall, she was half a head taller than me, her thick chocolate colored hair was pulled up into a bun, her skin was actually had a healthy tanned look to it which was exceptionally difficult and expensive to pull off for Damned, even with the Warmth of Life I looked just a couple shades away from corpse-white. Jessie however, even without makeup and the Warmth, she looked like me with my Warmth, life truly wasn't fair. She was wearing a Green T-shirt, leather half-jacket that accentuated her double Ds and a black Mini skirt, on anyone else, it would have looked slutty to me but on Jess... Maybe it was the fact that she was between 180 and 190 lbs, or maybe it was her warm smile but she just looked cute with a bit of sexy and a hint of confidence, she took great pride in her appearance.

"Hello sister," Jess said with her award-winning smile. She was standing between me and my bike and was in the way without looking like she was, but I knew her tricks "Jessie..." I trailed coldly, looking around for anyone else.  
"I'm hurt Sabrina... Truly, it's been three years since I last seen you and that's how you respond to my greeting?" She asked with a frown, hurt pained her expression.  
"Jess... What are you doing here?" I asked with a bit of a sigh. The secret to a good lie is not to completely lie. She wasn't really hurt by my coldness but it did make her upset, I just couldn't tell how much.  
"Sister... You know why I'm here.. I miss you, Mother, Father, hell even Olivia misses you. We all just want you to be with us again, for us to be a family again," Jessie said, it almost sounded like she was pleading.

"Jess... You and Olivia are not my sisters, and Marcus and Quendolin are not my parents. I was sired by Marcus, you and Olivia were sired by Quen. We were all raised and trained in this life together but that doesn't make us a real family," I said slowly. I started gritting my teeth and the painful memories of my time with my 'family'. Family is not truly a concept within Damned society or even in general. We are solitary predators of the night, we generally do not get along with others on the best days. which made sense since in my travels I had never seen or heard of anything like it since I left. Marcus and Quen must have been close, close and driven enough to even attempt something like a family.

I don't know if Marcus had sired others before me but as far as I know he had not sired anyone after me. He made sure that Jessie and Oliva had what I never did. A choice. Quen gave Jessie and Olivia a choice to be Damned, gave them enough information to not overload them but enough for them to make a somewhat informed decision. Marcus had made that choice for me. It took him five years to admit it to me that he was wrong but by then. I had made my choice.

"If that isn't a family. What is Sabrina?" Jess asked and I sighed.  
"Where are the others?" I asked, they would've made themselves known if they were here with Jess.  
"Oh I don't know... Probably sniffing out where your staying..." She said casually. I tried to put my poker face on faster than my anger, despair and possessiveness could twist my features but I failed and Jessie tilted her head to the side.  
"Curious..." She commented, but she didn't push. She was acting like I didn't have a heavy pistol pointed at her but I still did.

Jessie's powers were similar to my own but she couldn't move nearly as fast as me but I couldn't do the kind of mental influence that she could and if I felt the into of power wash over me I would put a round through her head. It probably wouldn't kill her... Probably... but it would give me the time I would need to escape. I did my best to make sure the panicked expression that wanted to cross my face didn't. If my family found Hawke... I shut that line of thinking down hard. I didn't want to think about it.

"I hear you've made a name for yourself here. Must be nice to settle down a little after going Nomad for years," She said. Nomad was a term that many Damned used to describe Damned who traveled from place to place often. Nomads were fairly rare since the benefits of moving around often usually didn't exceed the potential benefits of staying and putting up roots somewhere.  
"I may not be sticking around for much longer..." I responded. This had happened before, whenever my family found me I would pack up and never look back. My mind immediately started thinking of Hawke. Which was surprising, never before had I let a human affect my life so much.  
"I'm not so sure about that..." Jess trailed. looking intensely at me. She wasn't a mind reader but she was very observant.  
"Something is different about you Sabrina, I just can't put my finger on it," Jess said with narrowed eyes.  
"We haven't talked in years, things change," I said.  
"No... I remember when Mother last saw you... She described your manner exactly as I remembered it. Jessie said. It was true, a little longer than a year ago Quen had found me and made contact with me, trying to convince me to come back to the fold. I packed up and left and a bit of time later I found Emerald City.

I sighed. This was going no where good for me. I lowed my pistol and moved to walk right past her. When I got close she grabbed my arm, not hard but with seriousness.  
"Sabrina... Sister... please..." She trailed. I had stopped when she grabbed my arm but continue moving past her without a word, she let my arm go and I walked to my motorcycle. When I had got on and I looked around. Jess was no where to be found. I took a breath and my phone rang. I retrieved it from my pocket and groaned,it was one of the Damned I owed a favor to.


	4. Chapter 4

pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hawke's point of view:

It had been three days since I last saw Sabrina, since I had accepted her offer to go out. I had done surprisingly well. Between the lies told about what happened, learning that vampires were real, and not seeing or hearing from my new girlfriend for three days, and keeping the fact that I was dating Sabrina from my best friend and roommate who would heckle me for months when I finally did tell him. I was still sane.

The sad part was the lying wasn't the hard part, at least, it wasn't the hardest part. I wanted to know what was happening to Sabrina. Was she ok? It seemed silly to worry about her since she could probably handle herself just fine but I still did worry. I made sure not to think too hard about what I might have been if worrying about your vampire girlfriend was more stressful then lying about said vampire girlfriend murdering a classroom full of students.

It was after school, about half an hour into our practice. We had just got done with our warm-up excercises, and I was about to go over introductions to the new member of our team.

Our team was small, me as Team Captain, Jack Belloway, my best friend and roommate, Tera Long, and the Twins Thomas and Rodger Thymes. The new guy joining us was Ben Hall. I noticed something strange. I saw a woman sitting in the bleachers that overlooked the track we were practicing on. Officially we only got together twice a week but i practiced on the track nearly every day. She was a new student, transferred from the East Coast somewhere the day after the Incident, which is what everyone was calling it.

I had noticed her because nearly no one ever hung out on the bleachers after school with no game going on. Let alone every day for the last three days, alone." Hey Jack? Can you go over introductions for me for a moment?" I ask3d turning to my best friend.

He was a lanky bastard, limbs longer than they should have been but not too much longer. He had tan colored skin befitting his islander heritage, he was a couple inches taller than me making him around 6ft and an inch or two. He had short blonde hair and big blue eyes, he was roughly 200 lbs but solidly built and muscular. He was an ass sometimes and a lady's man and the attraction was mutual. That must have been why he never had a relationship that lasted longer than a couple months.  
"Gonna go ditch us for the lonely loner lady freshman with pink hair Hawke?" He asked with a smirk and i gave him a withering stare. Which he Responded with a chuckle.  
"Sure thing John," he said. I think Jack was the only person to call me by my first name even occasionally.

I headed off to the bleachers. I wasn't the only one who noticed apparently. Jack didn't practice every day after school like me, but he would keep me company on occasion, especially if no one else was there practicing with me. I had an open invitation to all my teammates to come by after school for help and practice. I would practice for an hour or two every day.

After a few minutes i started to climb about half-way up the bleachers before stopping and clearing my mind. Believe it or not, i was a little awkward around most women. It seemed strange to me looking back that i never really felt like that when i talked with Sabrina though.

The woman in the bleachers was more of a tomboy type. Her hair cut short but Jack was right, bright pink hair, recently dyed if Hawke had to guess. She was kind of short, maybe 5ft and some change, her facial features were small and reminded me of someone of Asian descent but watered down from a couple generations of American. She was wearing a long sleeved fleece black shirt and black slacks.

She had a notebook in hand and a messenger bag within reach.  
"Hello, my name is Hawke," i said in a somewhat awkward greeting. For a few seconds she did and said nothing before turning towards me.  
"Hello Hawke. You can call me Lexi," she said and set her notebook aside.  
"Hello Lexi. I noticed that you've been sitting up here every day for the past few days. Have you been waiting for a ride?" I asked and i saw a small almost imperceptible smil3 start to form on her lips.  
"Yes, i am actually. Your rather sharp..." she trailed like she was about to say something else, but she did not.  
"Thank you... well... would you like to come down to the track and learn how to shoot a bow?" I asked. I was trying to be friendly, she seemed like a loner and maybe that's how she liked it but this school usually wasn't especially inviting to new students.  
"I don't know... not that I'm not interested but... would you and everyone else mind a new person?" She asked shyly and i gave her a reassuring smile.  
"I'm positive no one would mind. We were starting to teach someone new already, and we are a small team regardless," i explained. She paused for a moment before giving me a small smile.  
"Sure," she said before packing up her notebook, and she followed me down to the track with her messenger bag in hand.

I took over from where Jack left off and introduced Lexi to everyone. After introductions were done. I went over the proper way to wear the protective equipment to wear while you shoot. After that, how to hold a bow, load an arrow and hold it while you draw the bow how to sight your aim and ended the example with a shot from 20 yards away and the arrow hit the inner most ring on the target.

Then i came to the part where no one volunteers to take the first shot when i asked.  
"So... who wants to take a shot first?" I asked.  
"Can I?" Lexi asked, raising her hand. I was a bit surprised, no hesitation at all.  
"Of course Lexi," I said be conning her over to where i had been standing and handed her the bow i was using. It was one of the school's bows they provided for the team. They were starting to show their age, but they were still good, and they were the same kind of bow the other schools used in competition.

She nocked her arrow, drew the bow back and fired quickly, not rushed but supremely confident which seemed to evaporate when her arrow didn't hit the target, the arrow sailed another 10 yards and hit the hay bail that was set up as the backdrop with a thud. Her body language said that her missing was unexpected, as well as the expression on her face. She repeated the actions and fired again but missed again.  
"Do you mind?" I asked, offering my advice. She turned to me as if to snap 'no' but instead.  
"Please?" She asked.  
"Sure thing," i said before walking up to her.  
"Something to remember. No matter how fast, strong or well coordinated you are. If it's your first time, you probably won't hit the target," I said, addressing everyone.  
"Also, it's not a race, slow down and take your time," I told Lexi.  
"Try nocking and drawing the bow again Lexi," I told her, and she nodded and did so slower this time. I watched her carefully as she drew the bow back.  
"Don't fire," I told her.  
"May I?" I asked showing my hands asking if i could touch her, and she paused for a second before nodding. I touched the underside of her outstretched arm and lifted it slightly. And i walked close enough to touch her back with my chest as i touched her elbow with my hand raising it a bit as well.  
"Sorry. Too close?" I asked.  
"No... im good," she said relaxing after taking a deep breath. I kept my hands where they were keeping the corrections.  
"Now, inhale and release the arrow while your exhaling," i instructed, and she did and i heard and saw the arrow sticking out of the outermost ring of the target.

"Good job," i said with a smile at her and was about to step back when i felt Lexi lean lightly against my chest a bit.  
"Thanks..." i heard her whisper so low only her and i could hear, and she sounded different, the shy loner suddenly gone, like she was never there, it was a little unsettling. I saw a smirk on Jack's face out of the corner of my eye and suddenly felt the eyes of everyone on my team and i cleared my throat.  
"Um..." i said starting to feel embarrassed and i felt Lexi stop leaning on me.  
"Good shooting. I'm here every day after school for an hour or two every day if you would like more instruction," I offered and just like that. The shy freshman was back in her demeanor and posture.  
"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer..." she trailed looking away like she was also embarrassed like me. She glanced over to the bleachers and my gaze followed hers and i saw a car with someone standing next to it.  
"That would be Father. Thank you Hawke and it was nice to meet you all," Lexi said before grabbing her messenger bag, handing the bow back to me and heading towards her ride.

Lexi's Point of View

I had a smirk on my face the whole way back to the car. I was positive Hawke liked me leaning up against me and really fell for the lonely freshman. I took a chance breaking the illusion but it was fun.  
"Hi father," I greeted my dad.  
"Hello 'Lexi'," he said with a deep voice emphasizing the last part.  
"Who was that?" He asked, indicating Hawke.  
"My next meal, Johnathan Hawke, he is captain of the Archery team and offered to show me how to shoot. I think he likes me," I responded. He raised a single eyebrow but said nothing as i got into the car in the backseat with Jess.  
"Hello Olivia," Jessica greeted me.  
"Hey sis," i said greeting her back. Father got in the car and turned it 9n before saying.  
"Just don't kill him. This is Night Society territory, and they take the Veil rather seriously around here.," he warned me.  
"No promises... he smelled good..." i trailed and remembered leaning against him and taking his scent in at that moment. Imagining how hid blood would taste running down my throat until i drank him dry...

"Did you find anything but a meal?" Mother asked from the passenger seat. Snapping me out of my revelry immediately "Sabrina definitely goes to this school, but she hasn't been seen the last few days," I reported.  
"You still positive she hasn't ran Jessica?" Our mother, Qwen, asked my sister. Who was silent for a moment.  
"If she has it wouldn't line up with her reactions." she trailed thoughtfully.  
"Maybe she can travel with Whatever she is here?" Qwen offered.  
"Why would she stop moving then?" Jessica asked.  
"True..." Mother admitted.  
"Can we give it another week?" Jessica asked. Both Mother and Father looked at each other and spoke in unison.  
"Yes,"/pre 


	5. Chapter 5

pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chapter 5: catching up

*Following Hawke

We were all finished with practice for the day, all the equipment was stowed away, and we were standing in the nearly empty parking lot just passing the time, talking about random things from gossip to our studies. Even Ben, who had been rather shy when we started seemed to be coming out of his shell which I was glad to see.

I heard a motorcycle enter the school parking lot and saw a slim petite female figure in a black leather bodysuit with a black helmet and tinted visor. She brought the bike to a stop about 30 feet from our group, and we were all looking at her. She put the bike on idle and took her helmet off.

My face lit up with a smile when I saw Sabrina's face smiling at me.  
"Hello Hawke. Would you like a ride?" She asked over the sound of her idling bike. I turned to Jack who was standing there a little dumbfounded his jaw a little slack.  
"Hawke... what the fuck man? You hold out on me or something?" He asked with an incredulous look.  
"Can you take my stuff home? I'll talk to you when i get home," i asked and told him. He took a big breath and exaggerated a sigh.  
"Yeah..." he trailed. Laying thick the sarcasm that he was annoyed.  
"Thanks Jack," i told him and handed over my backpack and my long bag holding my archery equipment. Before turning to Sabrina and walking over to her.  
"Nice to hear from you," I told her, low enough it would've been hard to make out what I had said for my team. Her smile faltered for just a second before nodding her head behind her, indicating me to get on. I did and my heart started beating quicker just being close to her and I put my hands on her waist, and we headed out of the school.

We rode for a while, taking the scenic route to her house, i figured because it was a nice day, and it was. The sun was covered by an overcast sky but it was still a bit warm for December and the world was well lit despite the cloud cover. We were both quiet and enjoyed the ride and our closeness. I could tell Sabrina was relaxed, it was in her posture and stiffness or lack of. When we had started our ride she was rather stiff but now close to the end that stiffness seemed to dissipate if not disappear entirely.

She opened the garage door with a button on her keyring, an automatic door, and she turned the bike off before walking the bike into the garage and closing the door. I got off when she did and took her helmet off and put it on her bike.  
"Hawke... I-" she started but I cut her off by giving her a hug, and she stiffened at my sudden embrace for a moment before relaxing and returned the hug, leaning on me slightly. After a little longer than was necessary I let her go.  
"I missed you," I told her with a smile. I was closer to her and her helmet was off so I noticed her skin wasn't colored like normal and her eyes were brighter, prettier than her normal ice blue, my breath caught when I was reminded of the Incident. She looked like this, at least, mostly like this, now, unlike then, she looked fully in control of herself.  
"Is something wrong?" I asked. She frowned and was quiet for a moment.  
"I've had a lot on my mind the last few days," she said.  
"Does it have anything to do why I haven't seen you?" I asked.  
"Not really..." she trailed, she seemed Deep in thought.  
"Do you want to talk about what is going on?" I offered, stepping closer and her head snapped up and stared at me with a frightening intensity.  
"I do... But give me a minute, please wait here," she asked and left the garage without further word. Leaving me puzzled and confused.

It was a two car garage, inside was a non descript car and Sabrina's motorcycle, strange, i wandered around, there were plenty of tools, powered and not and it looked like a normal garage. However something was out of place, then it struck him. All These tools were 'too' clean, like never used clean and some even had dust on them, and it wasn't just a couple things, nearly everything was like that. Why buy this stuff if you weren't going to use it? I briefly considered asking Sabrina about it but thought against it. She might not know or might not tell me for one reason or another.

I examined the car for a couple minutes but for some reason I had a hard time remembering any details, then I heard Sabrina's voice.  
"Hey Hawke," she said and I turned to her. She was in a more normal outfit now, her hair down and straight, which still looked good on her. A dark green T-shirt and skinny jeans, she smiled at me and I noticed her skin was colored again and her eyes were back to their normal ice blue selves.  
"I forgot to say before bu I've missed you too," she apologized.  
"It's ok Sabrina," I told her and gave her a reassuring smile.  
"Are you hungry Hawke?" She asked and I nodded, and she Beakon me to follow her and I did.

She led me to the kitchen again and started pulling out dry noodles and I could tell immediately she was going to make pegging and meatballs.  
"Spaghetti and meatballs ok?" She asked hesitantly.  
"That sounds good to me. Better than what I'm used to," I said remembering that we almost always had frozen meals of some sort at Jack's house. I didn't have a problem with it but it wasn't the most healthy thing. Luckily for me the school offered healthier lunches. Sabrina nodded to my response but said nothing.  
"Do you need help?" I asked, offering.  
"I do not," she responded. It was my turn to nod and I sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen, Sabrina was on the far side of the island of counter top next to the oven.

We were silent for awhile. Sabrina seemed... not quite right. Maybe I hadn't know her for long enough to know for sure but I asked anyway.  
"Sabrina... I know I said I wouldn't play 20 Questions..." I trailed with a sigh.  
"But you have some, don't you? Go ahead and ask," she offered.  
"Ok... well... for starters what was that look you gave me back in the garage? Right before you excused yourself?" I asked, she was looking into the noodles she was stirring and was quiet for a second.  
"I was thirsty. I went inside and grabbed a blood bag before changing into normal clothes. Sorry for leaving you out in the garage but..." she trailed and i thought i saw a blush of embarrassment.  
"I didn't want you to see me with the blood bag... it's not exactly the most flattering image, watching someone drink from a blood bag like you would drink from a water bottle..." she trailed and laughed a little.  
"Why is that super embarrassing? I Never had a problem with it before..." she trailed thinking.  
"Because it's me?" I offered, and she looked at me and I thought I saw the blush deepen.  
"Maybe..." she whispered under her breath.

I look a moment to think before I asked my next question.  
"What happened at the classroom? Before i got there?" I asked, and she went still for only a moment but it was unsettling. No movement, no fighting, no breathing, not a single muscle, absolute stillness, but the moment passed.

I expected silence, maybe never getting an answer or maybe she would get scary to shut me up or a simple 'I won't answer that'. I definitely did not expect her to turn around facing me and walked up to me and hug me. It caught me off guard terribly and I flinched for a moment before returning her embrace. I thought she would break the hug quickly as well, but she did not.

"Hawke..." she trailed and took a breath before releasing me.  
"I do not normally open up or tell 100% of the truth all the time. I will do my best with you because I want this," she said indicating us.  
"To work? To have a chance. But omitting the truth is a defense mechanism that has kept me 'alive' for the last six years. I say this so you know... while telling the whole truth and being honest might come easily to you, it is not the same for me," she explained. She was close, nearly touching me as she looked up and explained this to me. I had a hard time imagining a world where what she was describing was not only necessary but the norm and commonplace but I nodded in response.  
"The short version is that I lost control of myself and then had to insure there were no witnesses," she said before. Taking a step back from me and went back over to her boiling noodles and drained them, she hesitated just a second after opening the oven but before taking out the meatballs, but she did retrieve them and started cutting the meatballs into quarters.  
"The long version is more complicated and i do not fully understand it myself but i was in the middle of class when i overheard a group of girls saying how bummed you weren't in class. Since I'm a territorial predator and it concerned you... I eavesdropped on them... what i heard made my blood boil, I fell into a rage frenzy and I lost control of my body temporary to my beast, everything that happened after was kind of blur and difficult to remember but I remember standing in the middle of class and everyone around me was dead and I was covered in blood. That's when I heard the door open and I smelled a nee scent, yours. You know the rest," she finished.  
"What did you hear that set you over the edge?" I asked but Sabrina shook her head.  
"I can't tell you right now but I promise i will later ok?" She asked desperately. Why? Was she worried about my reaction?  
"Ok Sabrina. Then what is your favorite food?" I asked out of the blue to change the subject and it occurred to me that I really didn't hardly know anything about Sabrina. But she seemed grateful for the change in subject.

She was nearly done and was mixing the sauce, meatballs and noodles in a big mixing bowl.  
"This actually," she replied and I furrowed my brow.  
"Spaghetti?" I asked surprised.  
"Yep. It can be as expensive and gourmet as you want or cheap and mundane as you desire. It's easy to make a lot, perfect for when your on the move a lot. And you can make it taste however you want and it still tastes right," she explained and I found myself nodding.  
"When you put it that way... i can definitely believe it," I responded.  
"I've told you I travel a lot. At least I used to. Almost everywhere I went, spaghetti was made a little differently. I think I liked that the most, traveling all around the country and seeing all the different ways to make my favorite dish," she continued.  
"Is this gourmet spaghetti?" I asked with a playful smile.  
"No... simple, it's been a rough few days," she ansswered, and she actually seemed... tired?  
"What was rough about it?" I asked, wanting to share the burden with her. Her pause made me feel like she was hesitant.  
"I can't tell you exactly what I have been doing but I've been paying some favors back that I owe some powerful damned," she said.

"Do you think you will be gone for days at a time will be a regular occurrence?" I asked, trying to hide the trepidation in my voice.  
"No. I don't think so. I've earned a reprieve for at least s little while," she said with a smile to me before she dished up the spaghetti into a pair of bowls, and we took them into the dinning room and sat together.  
"Grace?" She asked still smiling, probably at the silliness but I just nodded and said a quick grace before digging in. Our meal was not silent though and I did most of the talking about what had been going on around school since she had been gone. It seemed weird, really weird to be talking about school to a Vampire that was a bit old for it, but she was excited and eager to hear what I had to say regardless so it was easy for that thought to fade away. I briefly considered telling her what had happened and about the weird vibe I had gotten from Lexi but I dismissed it not wanting to worry Sabrina or worse get her angry at someone else for what could've been a misunderstanding. Our dinner stretched from what would've been an hour long or so into 2 hours, it surprised me when I saw the time after we were done doing dishes. Time always seemed to fly when I was around Sabrina, I knew I didn't have a lot of times to draw that conclusion yet but ever time so far, that had been the case.

"Hey Hawke..." I heard Sabrina say thoughtfully and I turned to her, we had sat down on a couch in the living room not long before.  
"Yeah?" I asked.  
"Would you like to go out? I"ve got word of a party going on at a warehouse and I thought it would be a good way to wind down for me, at least but would you go with?" She asked looking to me hopefully. I had never really been much of a party goer, I never drank, smoked or did anything else like that and I wasn't exactly brimming with freinds, so they didn't really appeal to me but I nodded none-the-less.  
"Sure. Just to warn you though. Some might consider me a buzzkill," I warned her with a smile.  
"Oh thank you!" She said and wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me close for a brief second.  
"I don't mind that. Would you like to change?" She asked.  
"Nah, I'm good," I told her. I wasn't exactly built but i was Some what thin and athletic looking enough to pull off the tight black fleece shirt and blue jeans I was wearing. She checked me out with a look that was somewhere between desire and hunger but said nothing and winked at me before standing up.  
"I'm gonna go change. Thank you for coming along with me," she thanked me and I nodded.  
"Of course."/pre 


	6. Chapter 6A

pre style="word-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"*Following Hawke

A thought crossed my mind.  
"Hey Sabrina!?" I called from the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor that she had just gone up and I started up the stairs. "Yes Hawke?" I heard her say. She was at the top of the steps looking down at me. She really was quite beautiful, it wasn't just the way she looked, her grace or her skin or near flawless complexion. She had a confidence to her that was unshakable and I could feel it. She gave me a strange look when I didn't say anything immediately.  
"Uh... Do you mind if I head home just for a little bit? I've got some explaining to do at home. Would it be ok if I told Jack that we are dating?" I asked and I could feel my face redden at saying that last part, probably because I never really dated anyone before her. Sabrina smiled at me.  
"Of course you can. It doesn't have to be a big secret," she explained to me.  
"Thank you," I responded, and she told me to wait as she left my sight. She came back shortly and handed me the keys to the rental suv in the driveway. I felt my heart start to beat quicker the closer I was to her but dismissed the feeling quickly and thanked her.  
"Back here by 8?" She asked and I noticed it was nearly 7:15pm.  
"Sure thing," I said before heading out the front door, getting in the beige SUV and driving to my house. I was getting better at navigating to Jack's house. I didn't have to go to the school first to get my bearings this time.

I pulled up to the sidewalk next to the house behind my own car. It was a small house, 3 small bedrooms, two bathroom, two stories with the second story consisting of Jack's bedroom and one of the bathrooms. I was crashing on the couch, living out of a couple suitcases of belongings. Not that I had not gotten used to it by now.

Jack's parents were probably the nicest people I had ever stayed with which was pretty sad since they weren't my foster family. They even gotten me the car I drove soon after I moved in with the condition that I was expected to drive Jack where he wanted but it was a small price to pay. It worked out fine for Jack's mother Eleanor Kos and his father Waylaid Kos. They were off the hook for driving him, and they had someone they could trust to be sober behind the wheel.

Jack had a problem with thinking he could drive while drunk and had totaled his parents car and nearly killed himself one night during sophomore year. Luckily for him all they did was revoked his drivers license and placed him on probation until he was 21.

I took a breath stepping out of the rental SUV and locked it up with a couple presses of the lock button. The house itself didn't look amazing, the blue paint was cracked, splits appearing in the wood but the walls were surrounded by a foot on any one side by flowerbeds. I wasn't much of a flower guy, but they were all sorts of shapes, heights and colors when they were in bloom. As it was most of the flowerbeds were empty of anything but weeds. Not surprising since we were in the throes of winter with it being early December.

I knocked on the door and opened it, stepping in I called "I'm here!"  
"You're home late John," I heard Elenor call from the Kitchen/dining room area down the hallway. Both dinning room and kitchen were small and I stopped walking down the hallway when I got to the entrance to make sure I wasn't going to be in the way. Elenor looked like she was finishing cleaning and putting the dishes away by the looks of it.

Elenor... I did not actually know much about her. She was mid to late 30s had straight black hair, rounded facial features that betrayed someone of Latino decent recently in her family and kind green eyes. If I had to guess she was around 5ft 6 inches high and between 150 and 160 lbs. Jack had taken much after his father with mostly Pacific Islander features, blocky sort of face, naturally tanned skin and a predisposition to a toned body, but he did inherited his mothers green eyes compared to his father's brown.

I had determined not long after meeting her that if my mother had been like Elenor I would have considered myself lucky. She had done a great job in making me feel welcome to their house. I felt bad for jot providing any rent but neither of Jack's parents had mentioned anything of the sort before. So I did some yard work, some house chores and generally tried to be helpful.

"Hello John. You missed dinner but there are some leftovers in the 'frig," she said turning her head and nodding to me before turning back to the dishes.  
"Thank you but... I ate already..." I said quietly.  
"Oh?" She asked and turned to me after putting the last of the dishes away.  
"Yeah..." I trailed awkwardly. I don't know why if felt weird to tell Elenor I had a girlfriend but... it was. Was I worried about what Elenor thought even if she wasn't my mom? Maybe?  
"Your girlfriend already making you dinner? I heard Jack ask me and in a flash I whirled around on him and punched him in the shoulder.  
"Ass!" I hissed. He just laughed.  
"Oh? You have a girlfriend John? Is she nice? Cute? What's her name?" Elenor asked and continued to ask questions and I gave Jack a withering look who just smiled and turned around and headed upstairs.  
"See you in a few," he said to me as he walked away.

After 15 minutes of interrogation by one of the nicest person I knew I was able to excuse myself and headed up to Jack's room. It was actually easy not to say anything about Sabrina's... Condition? Infection? No one asks and it's easy to avoid any questions that might even come close. I noticed something strange at school too. The murders were being... not forgotten but... Put in the background maybe? There was just so much other noise going on in the media and everywhere that it was becoming just that, noise.

My footsteps rang a hollow thud up the stairs and I knocked on Jack's unadorned bedroom door at the top of the stairs.  
"Come on in Hawke," I heard Jack call from his room. I opened up the door and walked in closing it behind me when I saw Jack in a pair of skinny jeans, shirtless standing in front of his closet with an unusual look on his face, thoughtful.  
"What are you doing?" I asked and walked across the beige carpeted floor to Jack's bed and sat on the edge if the bed.  
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm looking for a decent shirt to wear," he answered, annoyed, and probably not just at my question.  
"What's the occasion? Normally you just throw whatever you want on at the time," I could almost feel his eyes roll from halfway across the room. I noticed his hair was slightly damp and the room was warmer than normal and now that I was taking things in, I could hear the fan on in the bathroom.  
"A shower outside your normal time and looking for good clothes. Now I know something is up," I teased him. He turned to me before walking up to me, his chest out, glowering down at me and I just raised an eyebrow at him. He was a couple inches taller than me, even if I was standing up, his tanned skin, athletic build and couple abs made him look intimidating. And to some ladies (and guys of a certain persuasion) it could be irresistible and at least for the ladies, he took full advantage of his 'assets'.

I didn't back down though. I was still sitting on the bed but despite Jack's confidence every time we did fight, which was rare. It always ended in a stalemate and both of us being weary of the fight. Eventually Jack backed down with a sigh.  
"Have I ever mentioned how annoyingly observant you are?" Jack asked me.  
"You may have mentioned it a couple times," I said with a smile, knowing it was closer to a hundred.  
"Well you are," Jack told me before turning back to the closet.

I took a moment to think before taking a shot in the dark.  
"I'm not the only one with a girlfriend am I?" I asked suspiciously narrowing my eyes at him. Jack didn't so much as blink or said anything, 'bingo'.  
"She would be number... five this year right?" I asked, Jack sighed.  
"I don't need your judgment Hawke," he told me. My opinion of his relationship and dating habits were well-known between us. Jack was a player, floated wherever his pants directed him for as long as his whim dictated. He had garnered a certain reputation at school.

I didn't say anything and a silence grew like it normally did in these situations. We both sighed at the same time and Jack turned to me, and we both chuckled.  
"I'm sorry Jack. You live your life however you wish, even if I do not approve. You would not be yourself if you did not," I apologized. Jack nodded. He wasn't one to admit to being often wrong, especially when the other person has already apologized.  
"It's ok John," He said turning back to his closet before pulling out a wrinkled white buttoned and collar shirt.  
"Classic," I commented. Jack nodded as he put the shirt on.  
"So how long have you and Sabrina been dating?" Jack asked, annoyance in his voice. Unlike him, me having a girlfriend was a special occasion. Probably because for as long as I've known Jack I have never had a girlfriend. Sabrina was actually my first girlfriend. I wondered to myself what having a vampire as a first girlfriend said about me, probably nothing good.  
"Just a couple days but I had not seen her since we agreed to date," I answered him, and he was quiet for a little but didn't ask any follow up questions about that before asking.  
"She a good cook? Since she made you dinner and all?" Jack asked.  
"Yeah... Yeah she is..." I trailed remembering the spaghetti and stir fry from before they were perfect and I could still recall the taste as well as the conversations during dinner. I noticed Jack was quiet for a while as he gathered his stuff, wallet, phone, house keys, that kind of stuff and laid it out on the desk in his room and recognized the ritual as an indication that he was going out tonight.

"You could do worse," Jack commented after a few seconds. I had not expected that. It was a compliment for Jack.  
"Thank you?" I asked with an unsure smile.  
"Well she isn't exactly in the 'cool' crowd, but she is smoking hot, smart, can apparently cook and since your with her, probably nice. And I doubt you would be with her if she wasn't and I doubt she could pull the wool over on you unless she was one of the best actresses in the world with how you notice fucking everything," Jack explained to me and to my surprise I was a little angry with his description of her and not because he was wrong... jack must have noticed because he laughed.  
"Don't worry. She isn't exactly my type," he said after stifling his laughter.  
"Not your type? She's hot, walks on two legs and is female. Not your type?" I asked with a little more venom than I expected, causing Jack to laugh again, this time louder and jarring making my ears hurt.  
"Yes she is hot and female and pale is a nice bonus but something puts me on guard around her, and she is probably into some freaky-kinky things and that is not really my style," Jack explained. I was silent for a moment in thought, before I laughed a bit under my breath. emYeah if you count blood-drinking as freaky and kinky/em I thought to myself and I started to lose myself as an image of Sabrina biting me in a pleasant way flashed in my mind and threatened to overwhelm my senses. I shook my head to clear it and calmed myself down.

I was definitely going to have to deal with those mind-melting thoughts. Convince myself that Sabrina biting me was not nearly as hot as I obviously thought it would be but now wasn't the time.

I looked up and saw Jack standing before me looking at me strangely before winking at me.  
"With that reaction I'm going to assume I'm right in the freaky-kinky regard," he said.

I waited a few minutes before asking.  
"Do you need a ride anywhere tonight?" I asked him.  
"Nah, I've got a ride to and from where I'm going," Jack told me.  
"I'm going to be home late or not at all," I told Jack, who turned to me and raised an eyebrow. I almost never went out.  
"Where are you going?" He asked.  
"Some party in a warehouse. Sabrina has had a rough few days and I'm guessing she wanted my help to unwind," I told Jack. He was silent for a moment and I could've sworn I saw a smile on his lips before he turned to me and his face was normal.  
"Have a good time and don't do anything I wouldn't do," he said with a smile. I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow in his face. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do. I headed down the stairs to tell Elenor what I had told Jack.

Her response was less snarky and more motherly but warned me not to do anything 'untoward' which was code for don't get too frisky on their first date. I wasn't planning on anything like that and told her as such. I wasn't the 'hook up' type, it wasn't my style. Just as I thought that the image of Sabrina flashed in my mind and i banished it quickly, emdamn hormones/em i thought before heading out of the house and back to Sabrina's house./pre 


	7. Chapter 6B

pre style="overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"Chapter 6. B

*Following Sabrina

I watched Hawke leave out the door before heading to my room. I was rather excited to go out tonight. It was my first night I had to myself in the last three days. I felt my hunger flare at the thought of freedom... Freedom to Hunt and sake my thirst. I had not planned on feeding tonight but the thought made my mouth want to water and the blood bags could only do so much...

My thoughts wandered to Hawke. I shook my head to free him from them, but they would not be denied... I told myself I wouldn't ask Hawke if I could feed on him.  
"You do not need to ask..." I heard a part of me say, my Shadow.  
"He is yours. Just take him, he's only human, and he wants it, he just doesn't know it yet..." I heard the dark thoughts say.  
"Every bite, every Embrace brings him closer... Just one more, and he won't be able to stop thinking about you..." With a force of will I shoved my Shadow back into the corners of my mind. I did not want that. I wanted him to have control of himself. I wanted him to be with me because he wanted to. Not because I had a spell on him.

Our curse... Our Damnation... It is almost like a sentient life force... Whom's existence is dedicated to surviving and spreading, like a virus. Any human bit, embraced as we call it, by the Damned even once is infected by the presence of that Damned's Shadow, making them more... Pliable, susceptible to that Damned's attention and vulnerable to their Gifts. The more often a mortal is embraced, the greater the effect with the first embrace doing next to nothing until eventually that Mortal becomes a Blood Doll as we call it, mortal whom is addicted to our embrace. They also are no longer considered a Breach in the Veil as these Mortals cannot do anything to threaten us as a whole, so infected with the Shadow as they are.

I was determined that this would not be Hawke's fate though. I would not sully him with my Shadow any further. I would not embrace him as I had four days ago. I knew it was a promise that would be difficult to keep... His very presence tore at my control but I would do what I must do keep him safe from my world.  
"Such folly... Our existence is Blood. It is our sustenance... Our pleasure... Our business... What do you have if it does not concern Blood?" I heard in my mind and felt in my bones.

A knock at the front door brought me back to reality I had only just got to my room when the knock came and I went downstairs cautiously I wasn't expecting anyone aside from Hawke, and he just left. I looked out the peephole and frowned before opening the door. Allowing the figure outside indoors.

A slightly hunched figure in a long overcoat pushed past me into the living room but stopped about 5 steps into the house.  
"Christ it's cold out there Rose. I've been waiting three hours for that Lick to leave," an Irish accented male voice say as the figure turned to me as I closed the door.  
"I did not know Tommy," i told him. He was damned like me, and the closest to a friend I had in this city at least.

Tommy was a shorter fellow, about as tall as me, slim with hawkish features and a gaunt face, making him look suggesting malnutrition. His skin was a very light tan, colored. With his body flushed with life. Explaining how hr could feel the cold. He had a long brown coat to match the weather, cold bordering on freezing but a clear night. He also wore an off-white t-shirt under the coat and thick blue jeans. He had green eyes, short cropped copper hair and facial hair slightly longer than a 5 o'clock shadow giving him a mid to late 20s look, but he was closer to 50.  
"What are you doing here Tommy?" I asked with a note of concern. It must have been important for Tommy to come to me directly, he typically text, call or sent a messenger if it was business as usual.  
"Well... I'm going to take a wild guess that you know your family is in town, thanks for the heads up by the way," He said that last part dryly. I had history with Tommy and his consternation was understandable.

I knew Tommy back in London before I left Markus and my 'family'. In fact.l, Tommy had helped smuggle me out of the UK to the United States. Much to Tommy's detriment seeing how Markus had destroyed Tommy's business and nearly sent Tommy to his Final Death in his search to find where I had gone. Markus had let Tommy go though, and he moved to Emerald City a year before me.

He had also helped me get set up and even let me crash at his lair until I could get my own set up. Mostly out of the kindness of his unseating heart. He had a soft spot for abused loved ones and I never really got a bead on Tommy but I figured something like that had something to do with his behavior towards me.  
"By your lack of surprise I'm gonna guess you knew already. You could've let me know... Anyway... Markus tracked me down under the assumption that I could get a message to you and was hoping that him not doing anything to me would be the show of goodwill that he wants you to believe his message. He told me he wanted to talk to you. To settle what is going on between you and them," Tommy explained to me. I was genuinely surprised that Markus had the kind of control to let Tommy go after his role in helping me escape. But i had a choice. I had let myself be distracted to avoid this decision but it was here right in front of me.

I could run, like I always had before, leaving everything I couldn't pack onto my Bike. It was definitely not the first time. But I never had... Whatever Hawke was to me... I wasn't even sure 'what' Hawke was to me...

Then again if I choose to stand my ground. I had favors owed to me, and I was stronger than I was and always growing. And this was my turf, sort of, I at least knew the City a bit. Their were four of them though with at least 2 of them far older than I. I took an unnecessary breath as my Shadow rose in violent defiance of these intruders in my territory and let the feeling wash over to me but steadied myself before speaking.

"Where does he want to meet?" I asked carefully. He lifted an eyebrow in surprise but gave me a dangerous smile with a hint of fang. He was kind of bad influence on me.  
"Tonight, midnight, 142 Carver st. The warehouse," Tommy relayed to me. I gave him a surprised look.  
"Markus said something about usual stomping grounds," Tommy offered and I shook my head. That was the Warehouse me and Hawke were going to tonight and those were my usual hunting grounds.  
"Be on your guard, and good luck Sabrina," he said before leaving. He must have been serious since he rarely used my first name.

I looked out the window of the living room but Tommy was already gone. I turned and walked up the stairs to go change. I would not let Markus disrupt my life anymore and wouldn't cancel Hawke and I's date. It was a risk of Markus and the lot to see me at least appearing to go out with someone. I would play him off as a nobody though. It wasn't exactly unusual for me and how I hunted and Markus would recognize it./pre 


End file.
